All about the boys! Sneak Peek!!!

It is atrocious out there... the wind is buffeting the house and the rain is lashing down! Thankfully I took the dogs out much earlier to avoid the awful weather. Unfortunately our boiler is leaking again - for the second time in about 6 weeks! Thanks Corgi Homeplan - you really are reliable!!! NOT! - We definitely won't be renewing!

Anyhow - as some of you know the end of January heralds the start of Sale-a-Bration... a FREE gift with every £45 you spend! I have completely fallen in love with 2 items. The Banner Blast stamp set and matching punch.

I like to experiment with colours I don't normally use - so decided on the colour combo - before I even worked out a design in my head - so I have used Soft Suede and Very Vanilla. Here is the front - I also used my Ovals Collection and Apothecary Accents framelits.

I thought it would be an excellent combo for a male card - though I think this is quite unisex and can be used for anyone. Here is the inside.

The sentiments are from Million & One and Blooming with Kindness.

I hope you like it!

I think Makita, our young kitten approved - I think she liked how it coordinated with her too!

I'm doing a series of posts with this stamp set so pop back tomorrow if you would like to see more!

Paula xxx

Clever embossing...

Ever been frustrated because you haven't got the right colour embossing powder for a project?

Me too! So I figure as Versamark is clear... I just need to add coloured ink - without getting it on my Versamark pad.

I add Versamark to my stamp, then add coloured ink... IN THAT ORDER. :-)

Next stamp the image on your card stock... sprinkle on clear embossing powder (or in this case Irridescent Ice as I wanted some sparkle).

And you have coloured embossing - there are no bounds - you can have any colour you like.

In fact - if you used your Stampin' Write Markers, you could colour the stamp like a rainbow!!!!!

Such a simple solution.

Back soon!

The stamp sets I used are Million and One and Flower Shop.

Once the novelty of the kittens has worn off a bit I'm hoping to get time to enter some challenges. We'll See!

xxx

Hostess Only set...

Today's post contains some really simple single layer cards, all made using the Hostess Only set - Simply Sketched. These Hostess sets are only available to be purchased using Hostess Pounds or On-Line Rewards.

This particular set just ticked all the boxes for me - I will just say - you are not limited to buying Hostess sets with your rewards... you can spend them on anything from the catalogues.

I'm not going to write very much more as I think Simply Sketched speaks for itself...

This first card is the most complex - I heat embossed the poppy on Vellum, dry embossed the top and bottom edges of the Vellum using the Needlepoint Border embossing folder and my Big Shot.

This second card, I coloured the poppy using my Stampin' Write Marker and used the sentiment from Million to One.

This card I coloured using ordinary coloured pencils to follow the Sketch theme.

This is another where I used Million to One. I just love the big bold sentiments in the set.

Finally the little bird was also coloured using my markers and a Blender Pen.

Hope you'll pop back for another post soon!

Paula xxx

Stepping it up!

I haven't forgotten you all, honestly, I'm just finding it really hard to leave my craft room at the moment. I have so many gorgeous things to play with and so little time. It is all the more appealing now 'Autumn' has kicked in with a vengeance.

Maybe I should show you some pictures of my craft room... the problem is, although my wonderful husband built in loads of storage, I have filled it all. It is also our spare bedroom so I can't really customise it as much as I would like.

Work is quite busy and I need to make up some hours so I haven't been getting home until 5pm (I start at 7am) then the dogs need walking and I manage a couple of hours crafting if I'm not doing a party or sorting out orders.

Today's cards are examples of a minimalist sort of card only using some basic supplies, then what we call a 'stepped up' version using additional tools and embellishments. It is the sort of card I might demo at a party to show the guests, then they would all make the basic card to take home.

So here is the first card.

In fact I would probably make it without the flower in the top right as some people may not wish to invest in a punch right away... mind you punches are my weakness and with so many of the bundles available where you get a discount for buying the stamp set and punch... why wouldn't you?

Here I used the Flower Shop Bundle (Punch and stamp set) and the stamp set Million to One... I love the two sentiments!

So to the 'stepped up' version.

You can see here I have added some of the Ruffle Stretch Trim and a Large Pearl.

Those little incidental items can really jazz up something simple.

I would love for you to share any tips and ideas you may have for stepping up a card.

Don't forget On-Line ordering is now available. (Click on the shop now image) Two little tips for you, firstly if you are searching for a stamp set by name, please check you have the English version before buying, not the German or French one... secondly, Hostess pounds that you start to earn when your order reaches £150 are called Rewards, when you purchase on-line. PLEASE do enter your choice of FREE items if you are prompted to redeem rewards. they will not be credited to your account or carried over to your next order, you need to redeem them straight away.

Well I'm off now - I'm going on holiday on Monday and have lots to sort out... including making sure the house is presentable for the friend who is staying here. I like the animals to have company whilst I'm away.

Hopefully I'll be back soon!

Love 'n' hugs!

Paula xx

Gift box contents...

I promised to show you the contents of that gift box from yesterday. There's lots of simple things for you to practice whilst I'm in Holland this week. Only Monday to Friday but I'm really excited!

The first box was made using Pistachio Pudding 12x12 card stock and inside are four single layer cards, a pen and 4 tealight candles.

I used another 2 In-Colours - Strawberry Slush to decorate the cards and the sentiments are stamped using Baked Brown Sugar.

Here is one of the tealights. I used a stamp from the Flower Shop set, punched it out of tissue paper, laid it on the candle and heat set it in the tealight.

Here are the four co-ordinating cards I made to go with them.

The first two cards used Flower Shop and the sentiments were from Million to One.

The third card uses Blooming With Kindness and the final one uses the flower from Love and Sympathy and the sentiment is from Perfectly Penned.

All the cards are simple single layer cards that even a novice stamper can try.

I'll schedule a couple of things for the week - I mean I can't just abandon you... can I?

Pxxx